BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 436
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          Date of Hearing:  September 11, 2013

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
                  SB 436 (Jackson) - As Amended:  September 6, 2013

           SENATE VOTE  :  Not relevant
           
          SUBJECT  :  Port Hueneme Beach shoreline protection

           SUMMARY  :  Appropriates $1,000,000 from the Safe Neighborhood  
          Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Fund  
          (Prop 12) for emergency measures permitted by the California  
          Coastal Commission (Commission) to prevent severe infrastructure  
          damage to streets and property located along the Hueneme Beach  
          caused by beach erosion and flooding.  Requires that should the  
          Commission require work at Hueneme Beach that is not eligible  
          for Prop 12 funding, the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund  
          (HWRF) provide funding. Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Makes the following findings and declarations:

             a)   Funds are needed immediately for the City of Port  
               Hueneme to implement emergency measures to prevent  
               significant damage caused by severe erosion at Hueneme  
               Beach to public infrastructure, public roads that include a  
               route identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency  
               as feeding into a tsunami evacuation route, and community  
               areas.

             b)   These funds are also needed to prevent down coast  
               negative impacts to the Ormond Beach Wetlands, a sensitive  
               and ecologically important public resource, to ensure that  
               the environmental quality of this unique estuary is  
               protected.

             c)   Given the sizeable waste that remains at the Halaco  
               Superfund Site, these funds are also critically needed to  
               prevent downshore erosion.

          2)Makes moneys from the HWRF available, upon appropriation by  
            the Legislature, to a city for a grant or loan to fund  
            emergency measures to prevent severe infrastructure damage to  
            streets and property within the city caused by beach erosion  
            and flooding.








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          3)Appropriates, notwithstanding any other law, $1,000,000 from  
            Prop 12 to the State Coastal Conservancy for a grant to the  
            City of Port Hueneme. Requires the funding to be allocated for  
            emergency measures to prevent severe infrastructure damage to  
            streets and property located along the Hueneme Beach caused by  
            beach erosion and flooding. Requires this appropriation to  
            only be used for erosion control projects for which a permit  
            has been approved by the Commission.

          4)Requires, if the Commission requires a project that is not  
            eligible for funding under prop 12, $1,000,000 to be allocated  
            by either loan or grant from the Harbors and Watercraft  
            Revolving Fund for a grant or loan to the City of Port  
            Hueneme. Requires the funding to be available for emergency  
            measures to prevent severe infrastructure damage to streets  
            and property located along Hueneme Beach caused by beach  
            erosion and flooding. Requires this appropriation to only be  
            used for erosion control projects for which a permit has been  
            approved by the Commission.

          5)Contains an urgency clause and explains that it is necessary  
            for this measure to take effect immediately to provide the  
            necessary funding as soon as possible to implement emergency  
            measures designed to prevent severe infrastructure damage to  
            public infrastructure, public roads, and community areas  
            threatened by flooding as a result of severe erosion along  
            Hueneme Beach in the City of Port Hueneme.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Provides, pursuant to Prop 12 (passed in 2000) $2,100,000,000  
            to protect land around lakes, rivers, and streams and the  
            coast to improve water quality and ensure clean drinking  
            water; to protect forests and plant trees to improve air  
            quality; to preserve open space and farmland threatened by  
            unplanned development; to protect wildlife habitats; and to  
            repair and improve the safety of state and neighborhood parks.  


          2)Establishes the HWRV Fund to finance the activities of the  
            Division of Boating and Waterways in administering the  
            programs specified in the Harbors and Navigation Code; the  
            Department of Parks and Recreation for operation and  
            maintenance of units of the state park system that have  








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            boating-related activities; the State Water Resources Control  
            Board for boating-related water quality regulatory activities;  
            the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Food  
            and Agriculture for activities addressing the boating-related  
            spread of invasive species.  Funds the HWRV through annual  
            appropriations from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account from taxes  
            imposed on distribution of fuel to propel vessels; a portion  
            of vessel registration fees; fees received from the licensing  
            of yacht and ship brokers and salesmen; and interest and  
            repayment of loans by local governments.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Cost of up to $1,000,000 from Prop 12 and/or the  
          HWRF for the emergency measures permitted by the Commission to  
          prevent severe infrastructure damage to streets and property  
          located along the Hueneme Beach caused by beach erosion and  
          flooding.  

           COMMENTS  :   

           Background.   The City of Port Hueneme (pronounced "Wy-nee'mee")  
          is located in Ventura County.  The port, Port Hueneme, is the  
          only deep-water harbor between Los Angeles and the San Francisco  
          Bay Area and is the U.S. Port of Entry for the state's central  
          coast region.  The US Navy and the Oxnard Harbor District share  
          the port.

          Construction of the port in 1939-40 significantly impeded the  
          down-coast movement of sand, causing erosion to down-coast  
          beaches including Hueneme Beach.  The federal River and Harbor  
          Act of 1954 authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to  
          construct the Channel Islands Harbor with a sand trap.  Since  
          then, the Corps has undertaken biennial dredging of  
          approximately one million cubic yards of material from the trap  
          and placed it along the down-coast shoreline to restore and  
          maintain it.
               
          In the 2012 cycle, due to federal budget cuts, the Corps moved  
          only 400,000 cubic yards from the Channel Islands Harbor trap to  
          Hueneme Beach.  According to the city, high winds and storms  
          following the Corps' December 2012-January 2013 deposit of sand  
          at Hueneme Beach resulted in the near total loss of all the  
          newly placed sand within the first few months of the year.  In  
          addition, shoreline erosion reached Surfside Drive, a road  
          paralleling Hueneme Beach.  The next scheduled Corps dredging  
          cycle is not until November 2014.  








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          On April 24, 2013, the city declared a local state of emergency  
          and sought assistance at the local, state, and federal levels.   
          Representative Julia Brownley (D-Oak Park) is working with  
          multiple federal agencies, the White House, and Congress to  
          secure funds and authorization for an interim dredge cycle to  
          restore the sand deficit along Hueneme Beach.  In the meantime,  
          the city obtained emergency permits from the Commission and the  
          Corps to place rock below the eroded section of Surfside Drive  
          as a temporary stopgap.  The city placed the first section of  
          boulders in July and plans to extend it further down the beach;  
          however, additional funding (approximately $2,000,000) is  
          needed.

           Similar Legislation.   AB 141 (Gorell) would have appropriated  
          $2,000,000 from the General Fund to the City of Port Hueneme for  
          the emergency erosion control measures.  This bill was held in  
          the Senate Appropriations Committee this year, presumably  
          because the source of revenue would have been the General Fund.

          Assemblymember Williams is proposing amendments to AB 606 that  
          would appropriate $1,000,000 from Prop 12 to the City of Port  
          Hueneme for the emergency measures.  AB 606 is intended to  
          provide the first round of funding for the emergency erosion  
          control measures.

          This bill, SB 436, would provide the second round of funding  
          needed for the emergency erosion control measures.

           SB 436 and AB 606 (as proposed to be amended) are double joined.
           
           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          Julia Brownley, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
          Kathy I. Long, Ventura County Supervisor
           
            Opposition 
           
          Recreational Boaters of California


           Analysis Prepared by  :  Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092 








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